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ShowbizNetflix begins filming The Royals season 2 as Ishaan Khatter returns and Bhumi Pednekar bows out
Netflix has started production on the second season of its comedy-drama The Royals, with Ishaan Khatter back as Prince Aviraaj Singh but Bhumi Pednekar, the first season’s co-lead, not returning.
Netflix announced on Tuesday, 3 November, that production has begun on the second season of its Indian comedy-drama series The Royals, ending months of speculation about the future of the fictional royal family of Morpur. Ishaan Khatter will reprise his role as Prince Aviraaj Singh, but the new chapter will be made without Bhumi Pednekar, who played the female lead opposite him in the first season.
The streamer confirmed that veteran actor Zeenat Aman will return, alongside Sakshi Tanwar, Vihaan Samat and Kavya Trehan, who are all reprising their roles. Behind the camera, the second season will be directed by Nitya Mehra and Tanuj Chopra, while the show continues under its creators, Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy.
The Royals first arrived on Netflix in May 2025 and quickly travelled beyond India. According to the streamer, the first season reached the platform’s Global Top 10 list for non-English television shows across 58 countries, a performance that made a second season a matter of timing rather than doubt.
Season one built its story around a once-wealthy royal family whose fortunes have faded. Aviraaj, a charming but carefree prince, was thrown together with Sophia Kanmani Shekhar, a self-made entrepreneur and chief executive who wanted to turn the crumbling family palace into a luxury homestay business. Their clashing personalities and ambitions produced family rivalries, comic chaos and an unexpected romance.
For the second season, Netflix says the story will continue on a grander scale, with more kingdoms entering the fold and new alliances, rivalries and romances taking shape. The emphasis, in the streamer’s own summary, is that royal life remains anything but orderly — a promise that the comedy will widen beyond a single palace and a single love story.
The creators said the response to the first season had made the journey special, and that they were looking forward to bringing back the characters viewers had taken to, with more romance, humour and family drama. There is, they added, much more of Morpur left to explore, and the new season is designed to open that world up rather than simply repeat the first.
Tanya Bami, the series head at Netflix India, said the second season would go deeper into Morpur while widening its canvas, with new relationships, rivalries and characters bringing fresh energy. She praised the directing team and described the show’s appeal as a mix of glamour, heart, humour and chaos that the new season is meant to push further.
Pednekar’s absence is the change most likely to reshape the series. Her character, Sophia, was not a supporting player but the co-lead: the modern outsider whose business plan forced the royal family to confront its decline, and whose romance with Aviraaj carried much of the first season’s emotional weight. Without her, the balance of the show may shift towards the family ensemble itself — its feuds, debts and competing ambitions — rather than a single central pairing.
Filming is now under way, but several details remain under wraps. Netflix has not yet named the new cast members who will join the returning ensemble, nor has it described the new kingdoms and characters beyond the broad promise of a bigger canvas. No release date has been announced for the second season.
What happens next will unfold in stages: further casting announcements and a first trailer are likely as production progresses, and the streamer may confirm a release window once filming is complete. The open question for viewers is how the series rebalances itself without its original leading lady — and whether the widened world of Morpur can turn that loss into a larger, richer story.
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